


The Mountains Say

by blurryfaceThalia



Series: Alexis and Mycroft - the series [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Before the show, Destroy the government, Experiments, F/M, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, MI6 Agents, Mind Control, Mind Reading, Slow Burn, Spy oc - Freeform, Superpowers, What Mycroft did before he became the british government, badass woman, but they will burn, one of those stories where you know they love each other long before they know it themselves, powers, seriously, they will kick your ass, triggerwarnings in the chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2020-10-28 21:29:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20785337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blurryfaceThalia/pseuds/blurryfaceThalia
Summary: Sometimes, the time just isn’t right. And it might never be, no matter how much it hurts, because sometimes, life will not let you choose but force you to endure.When Mycroft and Alexis start working together, they make a team like nothing the world has ever seen before. One with the ability to see through everyone and everything, and the other able tounderstand– a force beyond what everyone thought was possible. Along the way they might find the heart they both thought they buried.





	1. The first meeting but Alexis is creepy

**Author's Note:**

> Heyho! 
> 
> I don't know how this happened... but here it is. God, I'm so excited about this idea. Please let me know if you want to read more, then I will write some more as fast as it's humanly possible!  
And now have fun reading!

It doesn’t really matter what the MI6 wants – their rules mostly don’t apply to Alexis. _Oh, MI6 isn’t like in the movies_, they say. _Don’t worry, it’s usually not dangerous, _they say.  
Well, when the other nations would kill to have you in their grasp, the normal rules stop working. Normally you work in a team and intelligence officers – or so-called spies – just recruit people already near the target. They don’t _usually_ go in with a cover ala James Bond and get the information themselves. But Alexis does exactly that. The only team she has is an analyst, someone who can supply her with the information she needs, such as layouts and names.

When you are like Alexis, though, it gets a little more difficult. Her last Analyst was ready to lure her into a trap to get a reward of who-knows-how-much money – she barely got out. So, excuse her when she is trying to make sure that the new guy wouldn’t sell her out as easily. She isn’t supposed to know who he is – they have code names for her and the people near her for a reason – but whatever. It’s not like they could just kick her out.

She’s been following him for a while now, blending in the crowd, Alexis is sure she’s going to be unnoticed until she doesn’t want to be anymore. Something doesn’t sit right with her, though. Maybe it’s the way he walks, all rich white boy, screaming that he’s smart. Maybe it’s because he looks so incredible young. Professional analysts are older, but he looks like he’s twenty-something. He holds himself like a royal, and the crowd is splitting for him.

Alexis is not close enough to hear him. The strangers are getting on her nerves; they are _thinking and thinking_ and they never stop. Such mundane things as well. She has become pretty good to focus on what’s important and ignore the rest, but crowds still get to her.  
Finally, the guy stops at a little café. When he sits down with his order, she slips in.

_Time to get to know you, boy. What kind of name is Mycroft Holmes anyway?_

He’s being followed, and Mycroft wonders why. He has been with the MI6 since finishing his second master degree, but he’s barely made a name for himself – the agency did see some potential (he just got promoted), but no one should have interest in him, really.  
As there is no real reason to be afraid, Mycroft is curious. And the only way to find out why this girl keeps following him, is to make her confront him. So, he takes a different route than usually and gets himself a cup of coffee, sits down contently, crosses his legs and waits.

It’s not long before a girl he doesn’t recognize seats herself in front of him. When you look at the situation from outside it doesn’t seem weird – the café is full, and the girl just took an empty seat. In reality, though, they both stare at each other, knowing something is up. She raises an eyebrow.  
Moments of silence pass. He musters her, and notices a small scar under her eye. Attractive, black hair, brown eyes. There’s only so many possibilities. His brain begins searching for a solution.

Meanwhile her brow wanders higher. Mycroft can’t seem to place her. His clothes tell him that she’s on the move a lot, she’s fit and trained. Maybe from the Agency? Are they monitoring him now? But would they really be so blunt about it, that the agent would make contact with him? No, the agents aren’t usually this bad.

A laugh from the girl snaps him out of his thoughts and calculations. “Is something funny?”, he asks, terribly aware of how she still hasn’t said what she wants.  
“Yes.”, she says and holds her head in her hand. “You are.”  
It’s not the first time in his life that people have called him weird, and he doesn’t really pay them any thought. But something is different this time. She is not here to insult him.

“Care to elaborate?”  
“I’m just checking you out, honey. I need to know who I work with.”  
His lips get thinner after the nickname. “How did you get my name, then?”

“How do you know the agency didn’t give it to me?”  
“If they wanted you to know me, we would have met with their supervision. You’re alone here. And you wouldn’t have followed me all this way just to talk to me.”  
“Smart boy.”, she grins, but she immediately gets serious again. “Why are you working for MI6?”  
His family has a reputation of protecting the country and he wanted to continue it. He wants to do something good; he wants to protect – he wonders sometimes how they managed to do that until now with their goldfish-like brains.  
He knows who she is now, at least. When they promoted him, they told him that his work would now be a little different. He would get a new partner instead of a team, but they didn’t answer his questions why. _‘You will see.’_, is all they would say.

“I don’t think that’s your concern, Medea.”, he takes a sip of his coffee and then continues, “Or would you like to tell me your real name? You seem to know mine already.”  
“I’d rather not.”, she lifts a shoulder lazily.

This isn’t going as he expected it. She didn’t flinch that he knows her code name, she found out who he was before they even started working together – the agency already said that something was special about her, and it made him even more determined to find out what that is.

“Is money important to you?”  
Now it’s Mycrofts turn to lift an eyebrow. What kind of question is that? “If you want to bribe me, I’ll have to disappoint you.”  
“That’s good.”, she nods. “You’re different.”

“Different than whom?”  
“Everyone.”, she smiles vague, “My partner before you betrayed me. Don’t do that and we will be fine. And I will know if you want to do that, I promise. And I also promise that you will regret it.”  
He couldn’t ignore the feeling she meant something different when she said that he’s different. How would she even know if he planned to betray her? Surveillance? He could do that, too. But when he thinks about it it’s not a good idea to try to find more about her, they probably keep tabs on her.

“Don’t threaten me as much, and we will be fine. I will only do what’s necessary.”, he says to show he has no intention of doing anything just to spite her – she is also pretty arrogant in thinking he would betray her. But they will see if she was worthy of all this talk.

They stare at each other tensely for another moment, then she holds out her hand for him to grab. He doesn’t like touching people, but it’s a symbolic gesture, and he would be a fool to turn her down.

“Good.”  
He nods. “Good.”

Work will be so much more interesting now, at least. He doesn’t think Medea is quite a goldfish.

Alexis gets up, tips her imaginary hat and lets Mycroft and his now cold coffee be. A little overwhelmed because of all the voices in her head she makes her way home through the crowd.  
_Did I turn the oven off? _  
_Why would she cheat on me?_  
_ I can’t believe Karen blamed me again, what the hell…_

She shakes her head, and thinks about Mycroft. Such a strange man. He wasn’t long with the MI6 yet, that means he’s still full of principles, and most likely wants to work for the good.  
_He wants to do something good; he wants to protect – he wonders sometimes how they managed to do that until now with their goldfish-like brains._

Goldfish-like brains, he had thought. And Alexis understands – she has never met anyone like him. His brain is fast, almost too fast for her. The first seconds in the café he mapped the entire building in his head and proceeded to think about who she could be. He also guessed she was from the agency, which is a first. It seems like he doesn’t think about stupid unnecessary things like everyone else and she is secretly pleased. Finally, someone who will be actually helpful to have around.  
But he did seem a little arrogant, not answering her questions, being completely confident in himself.

Well, work will be really interesting from now on.


	2. Johnny Cash is always the way to go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos in the last chapter! I appreciate everyone of you reading this!
> 
> By the way, I imagine young Mycroft a little like Sherlock - he's not quite the Ice Man we know yet. One wonders what might happen that he becomes the man we know and love. If you stick around you'll find out!

How in hell had she ever thought that working with Mycroft Holmes might be even remotely pleasant?

Their first _official_ meeting was alright at best; her old mentor and boss Gerry Bornar introduced them to each other, thinking they hadn’t met yet. He introduced her as Medea, and she was supposed to keep her real Identity a secret. Mycroft had no clue about her, really, and Alexis intended to keep it that way. No need to know about her powers, yet. Mycroft got introduced as _Antarctica_, and she had to suppress a chuckle at that.

He was already clearly annoyed with her, to say the least. He thought she was arrogant and insolent, but she didn’t care. He might consider himself as cold as the Antarctica or something like that, she didn’t care – but she knew the human race better than anyone. No one exists without a personal connection.

So, that wasn’t the best start, but Alexis refrained from looking in anyone’s head; for one, she didn’t want to know Mycroft as a friend might, because that simply wasn’t necessary, and she would have to work with him for quite some time.

Now, in the middle of their first training session, where they were watched by a lot of important people, he fucking didn’t let her do her goddamn job.

The only goal for them was to sneak by a group of (with paintball-guns) armed guards and get a flag from the middle of the room. This is not a problem. Alexis is good at sneaking.  
Mycroft’s job here is only to watch from afar, thanks to the security cameras, and guide her to the flag. And not constantly nag her about the right way to sneak around them.

“When you continue to stay there for another 30 seconds the guard will come around the corner and then only luck can hide you from his eyes.”  
“It’s not luck. They’re not expecting me to be here.”  
“They’re obviously looking for you, I wouldn’t be so sure. He’s coming right now. Move.”  
It’s his third ‘obviously’ in five minutes and the urge to strangle him gets almost irrepressible. Alexis chooses not to answer. He will have to sit this one out.

Instead of moving she presses closer against the wall and holds her breath, waiting for the guard to come around the corner next to her. She is hidden behind a badly kept bush, but it serves her purposes. The MI6 might have to hire some gardeners if they want to make these trainings as realistic as possible. She has listened to the reasoning of the guards, and she knows _where_ they are looking for her, so she knows which parts to avoid and which she could safely hide behind.  
Mycroft of course doesn’t know that.

He is probably a great analyst – he could tell her every outcome of every possible situation right now. But he doesn’t have all the information.  
“Sheer luck.”, he snarked, unhappy that she didn’t listen.  
“Just trust me about this. I know what I’m doing.”  
“Unlikely.”, he mutters, and the rage flows anew through her veins.  
“Oh, shut up.”, she spits, and decides to do this on her own. Probably not the smartest decision, but she can manage. If she wants to, she could walk through the guards by simply telling them not to shoot her, and they would listen to her. They always listen.

Alexis can almost hear Mycroft’s teeth grinding. But this will be his first lesson. Alexis will do what she deems right.  
So, ignoring what he says about the best route, she focusses on the area around her. She can feel the guards; she can feel their minds, their worries, their hopes and dreams. It makes them easy to locate.

The one who came around the corner continued his path around the building and is out of sight, the next one stands with the back to her. She creeps her way more and more forward, through bushes, behind their backs. Mycroft rages on the other hand, because she completely ignores him.

“You know, they might stand with their back to you now, but they _do_ can turn around, just for your information.”  
“He almost saw you! You’re not invisible, and contrary to your belief, you do have mass.”  
“Things move after you touch them, for goodness sake.”

Enough is enough. Taking her earpiece out would be against rules, but she can’t take it anymore.  
“Go-“, Mycroft tries again, but Alexis interrupts him.  
“Love.”, she mumbles quiet and he shuts up immediately, “is a burning thing. And it makes a fiery ring.”  
“Are seriously singing Johnny Cash right now.”  
Not minding him she continues, “Bound by wild desire, I fell into a ring of fire.” Like a miracle it calms Alexis down. “I fell into a burning ring of fire. I fell down, down, down, and the flames went higher.”

“She’s insane.” No doubt Mycroft is talking to someone else now. She wonders if it’s Bornar, and what she’ll get to hear when she is done. They talk, but she just continues singing and working her way to the flag. There are only so many places it can be, and she knows this training course in her sleep.

“And it burns, burns, burns… The ring of fire… The ring of fire…”

Alexis can see the flag now. She waits until the man standing next to it turns his back to her. Three steps, two steps, one, she grabs it – and something hits her right between the ribs, effectively knocking the air out of her. After the initial shock she looks down and sees a yellow spot on her stomach. _Goddammit._ The horn signaling that the practice is over blows, and she throws the flag to the ground.

A goddamn sniper. He was too far away for her to feel, and Mycroft was to busy whining to her boss to inform her about it. Irrational rage makes her move to where Mycroft would sit.

Alexis enters the room, where some officials are standing in the corner and Mycroft and Bornar are talking, and all eyes are on her.  
“This isn’t going to work.”, she directs at Bornar. “You saw.”  
“It would’ve worked if you just had listened to me and weren’t so extremely self-absorbed!”  
“You don’t know me.”, Alexis hisses, “Don’t make such assumptions, when you literally know nothing about me. Nothing.”

Mycroft huffs. “Oh, I know everything I need to know. You have a light accent, sometimes speaking vowels harder than necessary which suggests you’re originally from Germany, but came here when you were still young. You bite your nails which means you’re nervous quite a lot, but you paint over them to hide it – you want to present yourself so bad as an adult when you’re nothing more than a childish brat. You don’t listen to orders; you clearly don’t understand that sometimes someone else has more oversight than you.” He inhales and calms himself down.

Alexis stills. Did they give her him as a partner because he has powers too? No, this is him just being a smartass. Alexis is tempted to dive into his mind, to drag his worst fear and biggest mistake into the light and tear him apart right here and now.

_I can imagine why the guy before me wanted her gone, _Mycroft thinks, and Alexis looses it.  
“You think you’re so smart. You give orders to me? You’re here to tell me things I _can’t_ handle, that I don’t know about. Like the sniper for example. Great job by the way. Don’t give me orders when I can estimate the situation better than you.”  
“That’s the problem, I know you can’t.”

_This is a disaster_, Bornar interrupts her new rant, _two children fighting. I’m too old for this_.

“You don’t understand!”, she directs at her mentor again.  
Mycroft looks mildly confused at her change of discussion topic.

“No, you don’t understand.”, Bornar pinches the bridge of his nose. “You are a team. You’re not supposed to fight each other, but everyone else _together_.”  
“She started to sing-“  
“He didn’t listen to me-“

“I don’t care!”, Bornar interrupts them. “I know you’re both really young. Too young to be this far in this kind of work. But both of you have incredible talents and if you’d only combine them, you would make a good team.” Alexis wants to say something but he stops her with a movement of his hand, “I don’t want to hear another thing. You both go cool off, go get a tea. I will talk to the suits over there.”

Bornar was the one to raise her and give her a place in the MI6, he took her away from that _horrific_ place. She didn’t think about how her performance might get him in trouble.

She sends a _“I’m sorry”_ his way and he nods at her. It doesn’t make her feel better.

Alexis and Mycroft walk off to the cafeteria, which is almost completely empty at this time in the afternoon. She gets herself a tea, and sits down, Mycroft seating himself next to her. It’s silent for a moment.

“Johnny Cash?”, he asks, and Alexis has to smile despite her situation.  
“Yeah.”, she admits, “He’s a classic. Absolute genius.”  
“Let’s agree to disagree.”

She wonders what his type of music is, but now is not the time to ask. And she wonders if a truce is the right way to go. His thoughts are analyzing the situation further. Mycroft identifies the suits as government workers, and he wonders what her special talents are. She chuckles a bit; he still thinks he’s supposed to be the brain and she the brawn. Of course, he’s right with his observation – she is a skilled and trained fighter, she can hold herself against every type of enemy, armed or not.  
This would all be easier if she would just tell him what she can do. That she can hear him analyzing her, that she can see the plans of the building inside his head.

He’s truly special – he thinks less in words and more in plans. It’s something that she noticed the first time meeting him, too; his brain is spitting out information about everything near him as soon as he sees it. She wonders how he learned to cope with that load of information. She still has problems with that kind of thing.

As noce and okay as he seems right now, Alexis can't risk to tell him. She can’t trust him like that, not yet. She can't take another shitshow like her previous partner.  
But she needed him to trust her, to trust in her abilities, so they could work without screaming at each other.  
“Alexis.”, she says, introducing herself new.  
He looks mildly surprised for a moment. Then he extends his hand. She takes it.  
“Nice to meet you, Alexis. I’m Mycroft.”  
“I know.”

He does something similar to a smile.  
“…Antarctica?”, she asks with a hint of laughter, “Did you choose that name yourself?”  
“Oh, shut up.”


	3. A truce may be reached

Alexis and Mycroft sit together in a more comfortable silence.   
“How did you know?”  
“What exactly?”, Mycroft asks dryly. “That you’re from Germany? Or that you don’t listen to orders?”

“I meant the German-thing, _Blödmann_.”, the hint of a smile she had before is gone again, “But just so you know, it went perfectly fine until _you_ didn’t inform me of the sniper.”  
“Insulting me in German isn’t as unintelligible as you might think, Alexis. _Danke dafür, übrigens_.”  
Alexis merely shoots him a look. So he understands her German just fine_, wonderful_. No talking about him behind his back, then. _Or at least not in German_.

Mycroft begins again. “I must admit, it was impressive to see how you made your way through the guards, but the chances of that working when you’re in an unknown environment, with strangers out for your blood, are slim to none.”  
Alexis huffs. “You assume that this only worked because I knew what the guards were likely to do? You think I know them that well?”  
“How else could you have had so much luck? There are no such things as coincidences.”  
“While that might be”, Alexis snarls, “I can tell you, that you’re not the only one capable of watching people and deciding the outcomes.”

It was a swift decision to make; Alexis couldn’t tell Mycroft about her abilities – so she had to reason with him in a way that he understood. It’s important he gets that she is able make decisions on her own, or this team would have no future – and she would have to get herself a new partner. Again.

“You deduce everything about people, Mycroft Holmes. How did you manage to underestimate me like that?”, she asks, and Alexis know this is playing dirty, but why not, she thinks. “Or do you not understand that sometimes someone else has more oversight than you?”

Mycroft face hardens at the words she throws at him; at least he’s more aware of her, now, that she’s hurt him with his own arguments. He analyzes her more carefully this time.

_24, maybe 25, fitting clothes and athletic statue, obviously she has regular training. Considering how confident she is in her abilities, she seems to be rather good in what she does, because while she might be many things, he didn’t think she is an idiot just trying to boast. German, came here when she was a teen, no, the accent is to light for that, it must have been even earlier, probably in the age of ten to twelve. What about her parents? Thinking back on the personal relationship with the mentor Bornar, he’d say they were of no importance to her anymore-_

That’s enough, Alexis thinks, and tries to shut his thoughts out. No more than a few seconds could have passed, but Mycroft had already examined most of her life without actually knowing anything about it.

“You know”, Alexis says, “I’m really not an idiot. I appreciate that you want me to do everything the safe way, but in real missions every second counts. I can tell what people are going to do next, most of the time. Nothing I did was simply because I wanted to disobey you.”  
“It was exceptionally dangerous.”  
“I assure you that you wouldn’t feel that way, if you’d trust my decisions.”, Alexis states, and puts in everything in her ability to speak smoothly to make him see sense. She will get that truce, _Verdammt nochmal_. “I know that trust can’t just appear out of thin air, but we will have to work with what we got here. Are you willing to take a little risk and trust me? I might listen to you a little more, in that case.”

Somehow, her words make his face soften again. The calculating look in Mycroft’s eyes isn’t gone yet, but she didn’t think she would get him to trust her completely with a few well-chosen words – nothing is ever that easy. Like Alexis said, they would have to work with the things they have right now.

“Very well.”, Mycroft gives in. “If we get another chance, we can try to find a compromise.”  
“We just have to talk to each other more. I’m sure you will understand my reasoning once the time comes.” Then she shrugs. “I don’t think they’ll give up on us after one try. They’ve put up with a lot more from me.”

“What exactly does _that_ mean?”

But before she can answer – fortunately – Bornar appears in the cafeteria, looking for them.  
“There you are.”, he says and his eyes take them in, changing to a meaningful look. “And, did you put your banter to the side?”

The question is too informal to be directed at Mycroft, so he sits still and watches the situation unfold.   
“I sang some more Jonny Cash for him. I think he finally saw sense.”  
It’s a joke, and Mycroft feels the corner of his mouth move upwards.   
“Well, good for you. I would’ve knocked your heads together otherwise.” Bornar shakes his head. “The suits want to see another try, and if you don’t cooperate, there will be consequences.”

Mycroft peaks at that. What does Bornar mean? The tone used suggests a known punishment. Alexis doesn’t seem fazed, her smile doesn’t falter, but he can see her muscles tense. _Ah_, he thinks. The mystery between this girl and the secret service only grows bigger. How could a girl her age, originally from Germany end up in this special position? He is sure he will find out soon enough.   
Something doesn’t sit right with him about this. But he can’t change it now.

“Understood.”, Alexis only replies. “I think this _Klugscheißer_ and I will manage, this time.”

Getting called a smartass in any language is nothing new to Mycroft, so he just shrugs. “If not, I’ll have to listen to some horrible music again. So _please_, let’s do it right.”  
“Good.”, Bornar says. “Let’s go.”

A short time after, they are in their places again. Mycroft sits in a lounge above the training ground, with three computer displays in front of him. He hacks the security cameras in a second – this is no challenge to him. Working with someone, who has a mind of his own, is, unfortunately.

Usually people don’t question him, they just do what he wants – even the higher ups have learned to trust his decisions. He always knows beforehand who listens and who won’t, and therefore he can manipulate the situation easily to his liking; most people don’t even register they’re doing what he wants. That’s why it frustrates him to no end that he can’t seem to place this girl right.

Normally he can control his emotions more easily, but her stubborn head got the better of him.  
Well, he has her in sight now, and gets himself a quick oversight over the situation, the placement of guards and of the sniper, of course.

“I have you on visual.”, he lets her know. “There are more guards now, and they’ve positioned them the way you took the last time.”  
“That’s the fastest way. I’d still take the chance.”

“The sniper has everything in sight for the complete route, you won’t be able to get from one building to the next without being seen.”

He sees her stop and think, and he wonders what there is to think about. “Why would you risk that?”, he asks what he’s wondering.  
She takes a deep breath. “Alright. Lead me the way.”

_Thank god_. He talks her through the narrow roads and alleys, past the guards and out of the line of sight from the sniper. It’s going well, really well, this time. She seems to hesitate a few times, but she eventually always does what he suggested; and he didn’t mind her taking her own steps to feel comfortable while doing so.

Right now, Alexis is standing in the shadow of a building and waiting for the guard in her way to turn around, so she could sneak past.  
“Wait,”, he says, “Twenty seconds until the guard turns.”. And when he does, as he expected, he tells her “Go, _now_.”   
But Alexis doesn’t move a muscle.

“What are you doing?”, he asks, trying to stay calm. _It was going so well_. “He will only watch that way for about two minutes.”  
“He knows I’m here.”  
“What?”  
“You heard me. He’s expecting me. I won’t be able to cross the road behind him.”

“Why would you think that?” Mycroft looks closely, but still he can’t see a sign for the guard knowing about her whereabouts.   
“I just do. Trust me on this.”

There were only so many options – it was clear to him that she didn’t trust him, which is fair, considering they didn’t know each other very well, and the first time they tried this ended in disaster. If he won’t trust her on this one, no matter if she’s right or wrong, she will never listen to him and his decisions again. It was the only thing he could do, really.

“Alright.”, he sighs, “What do you suggest?”  
“I know a way.”, she tells him, “Just warn me if I get too close to someone.”  
“Got it.” It takes some of his willpower to agree, but in the long play it is the right thing to do. “Be careful.”  
“Nobody will see me, don’t worry. And now, quiet, I need to concentrate.”   
Mycroft just rolls his eyes.   
“Or I will sing Jonny Cash again.”  
He doesn’t dare to make a noise.

Mycroft watches how she climbs around the buildings, hidden from the sight of the guards, with clenched teeth. But he has to admit, that this way would be the fastest to the flag from her current position.

“Careful now.”, he warns her, “Stay down or the sniper will see you.”  
“Thanks, _Antarctica_.” He may have heard a chuckle in her words, and shakes his head. At least she listened and crouched all the way.

“Take the street to your left, the flag is near.”  
“Good. Can the sniper see me while getting the flag?”  
Mycroft can see Alexis glancing at the bright yellow paint on her stomach. He almost has to smile. “Not if you stay at crouching level.”  
“Great. This is a real leg workout, _verdammt_.”

“You almost got it, afterwards you have enough time to whine.”

And the next second Alexis crouches towards the flag, and takes it in her hand. She stays still for another five seconds, until the horn blows, signaling the training to be over. She gets up and stretches the flag up to him so he could see. She has a grin on the face, and he can only shake his head.

“Thank god.”, he mutters.  
“I heard that.”


	4. “What’s this?” “Hell”

The next weeks Alexis and Mycroft are expected to train together and work out their dynamics and strategies; which information is needed at which point in time, when Mycroft needs to intervene and when Alexis needs to get over her stubborn self and ask for help.

So far, so good.  
Quite some time has passed, and Mycroft seems to understand Alexis a little more, although not completely. Something about her is… off. And it’s not just because he can’t deduce everything about her in a glance – he used to think he had her all figured out, but then their first training together happened – she says he has underestimated her, but he can’t understand how she’s doing it.  
He had much time to watch and analyze her in the last weeks. She claims, that she can deduce people similarly to him; or at least, that he isn’t the only one that can do it, but every time they get into a situation with new people, she just stands there, sometimes even with closed eyes. She doesn’t look at the person, therefore she can’t _see_ them like he does. But she still has the same information as him.  
Also, he can’t quite figure out how Alexis fits into the agency all together.

Very frustrating.

This morning they are meant to attend their sparring training – even Mycroft had to know how to fight, even though he despised this with every fiber of his being. He dislikes the action part of the job; he usually sits behind his computer displays and only talks, but in case of emergency he has to be trained too, of course. He also loathes the touching involved in fighting in short distance.  
He used to fence when he was a teenager and desperate to lose a little weight, and that had actually been fun, because he could always see what his opponent was doing next. He and Sherlock could have been prodigies, but Sherlock got bored shortly after even starting, and Mycroft quit it when leaving for university.  
Maybe he should think about getting a sword, an epee maybe. Might help him in the future and prevent him from touching a real enemy.

He arrives to the gym ten minutes early, and he is surprised to find more people than just their instructor Bornar and Alexis inside. There’s a group of people varying in age standing in line for the mat, a few are resting or warming up.

He takes them all in and notices Alexis on the mat, already sparring. He watches the fight, completely mesmerized for a second – it looks more like a dance choreography than a fight. Alexis and the girls seem to know each other very well, they move around each other with well known practice.  
Now he can see that all the people in the room seem rather close – they know each other well. Mycroft frowns. Alexis told him that she doesn’t know the agents she works with personally. The people in here seem to be an exception.

Then he notices something else – Alexis is sweating, excessively. When her opponent is on the mat and she helps her up, he can see the redness of her face – it seems like Alexis has been going at it for at least two hours. When she turns and looks at him, she doesn’t smile like she had in the last few weeks, she just nods at him, and he sees the glassy look in her eyes. She is not only exhausted; she is also sick.  
Mycroft frowns again. Bornar knows, he deduces, but still, Alexis is supposed to fight. Why would they force her to train in this condition?

Mycroft strides over to her and waits, when she drinks her water.  
“Shouldn’t you rest?”, he asks carefully. He doesn’t want another argument that he shouldn’t tell her what to do. But clearly something isn’t right.  
“Congratulations.”, she just says, and Mycroft raises his eyebrows, “We are getting our first mission shortly. They don’t give a shit about anything else.”

Bornar gives them a look from the other side of the room, but he couldn’t have heard them. Mycroft ignores him, but Alexis seems even angrier.  
“They have tripled my training as if I’m not ready for any mission. I’ve had enough of this.”  
Mycroft mentally takes a step back. She… doesn’t want to be here? Wasn’t it her choice to be here in the first place? She must’ve chosen this job, and she must have kneeled into the work to be this far into it at her age already. But her words and anger suggest that she didn’t choose this at all.  
Another mystery added to her file.

“Not very smart of them, I must admit.”, Mycroft tries to smile at her. Somehow, he wants to be on her side of this. If they really had a mission coming for them, he’d prefer his agent healthy and not almost fainting any second.  
“Yeah, no shit.”, she huffs, as Bornar makes his way over to them. “Oh, here it comes.”

“Time to rest is up.”, Bornar says calmly. Alexis doesn’t reply, but takes another sip of her water.  
“Have you an answer for me yet?”, Alexis then asks, with a glint of hope in her voice. “Have you at least asked? You know it is today.”  
“I’m sorry, Alexis.”, Bornar explains, and Mycroft sees Alexis face turn to stone, “They don’t want you to leave the base, and you know that. I’m afraid you’ll have to stay here.” They stand in silence, Bornar seems uncomfortable, and then adds: “Training resumes in five minutes. Be ready by then. The suits will be watching.”

Mycroft tastes the tension in the air. The girl Alexis was just sparring with gets her attention by waving and gestures with her thumb up or down. Alexis just shakes her head, and the girls face drops in disappointment. Mycroft has no idea what this is all about.  
Since he has met Alexis his head seems to be filled with riddles over riddles.

“I’m really sick of this.”, she says in a moment of new found clarity. Then she turns to Mycroft with a determined look. “Are you a goody-two-shoes like I expect you to be or are you willing to have a little fun with me?”

This question doesn’t really leave room for an honest answer, Mycroft thinks. He has never followed rules just for the sake of them. He always has in sight what would be of the most gain for him – and those around him, for that matter.  
Does he want to train here, to be on their bosses’ good page? The suits would be watching later, Bornar had said. He might get into trouble, but on the other side…. What were they supposed to do, fire him? Mycroft smiled at that inwardly, as if. They were too glad to actually have him on board to harm his reputation. And Alexis trust is something he might need in the future.  
“Fun sounds good.”, he says with a smirk, and Alexis face lights up a little more. He is the reason for that, he thinks. He doesn’t understand emotion very much, but he supposes that that was good.

“Great.”, Alexis says and takes his hand, dragging him away.

She leads him through hallways he hasn’t been yet, and only knows from the plan inside his head, until they come out in front of a big door that says ‘pool’ in big red letters on it.  
Mycroft frowns again. He isn’t sure what he thought Alexis had in mind, but switching one training for another isn’t what he’d expected. Eh, at least there aren’t as many people here.  
Contrary to what he believed her touch isn’t as bad as touches are usually to him.

She drags him into the women’s changing room before he can react (it’s empty thank goodness), and through the showers, until they are standing on the side of the empty pool.  
“You can swim, right?”, she asks him.  
“Yes.”, he nods, “But I don’t exactly have the appropriate swimwear with me.”  
“That’s not exactly an obstacle.”, she grins and jumps in fully clothed.

Well, fully clothed in her case meant a sports bra and shorts, but still. Mycroft hasn’t been this surprised since… he can’t actually recall anything like this. He only had a shirt on and long wide pants. Alexis is sick, she really shouldn’t stay in her wet clothes once they would get out.  
“Get out of your clothes then, if you don’t want them to be wet. I’ll be fine.”  
He raises a brow; how did she know again what he is thinking about? And no, he definitely did _not_ blush because of her suggestion.

After another moment of consideration – Alexis is floating in the water with her eyes closed, maybe that gives him a little more confidence to do this – he takes his clothes off (except for his boxer), and he folds them routinely. Alexis chuckles in the water, having one eye open and lazily glaring up at him.  
Mycroft feels insecure in that moment, the comments about his weight still on his mind, but she waves for him to get in and closes her eyes again.  
The feeling fades and he feels a little more comfortable in his skin – comfortable enough to get into the water. He uses the ladder, naturally, rather than just diving in, but the water is warm and soothing.

They float together in silence for a while, Mycroft actually kind of enjoys it.

“I love water.”, Alexis says then, softly. “It always quiets my head.”  
“I see.”, he only answers. He wavers for a moment, before feeling close enough to her to ask: “So, what was this before?”

“Hell.”, she chuckles, but turns serious once more. It helps her they aren’t looking at each other but at the ceiling. “My friends wanted to go out today, but my bosses always need to demonstrate their power by making me dance to their will. I’m sick of it.”  
“Why don’t you quit, then?”  
Alexis stays silent, and Mycroft wants to take a glimpse at her – she seems so far away, lost in her thoughts. He’s startled when she starts to speak again. “How did you start to work for MI6?”

“They’ve approached me in university. Said my skills would be of good use in the agency. I’ve always wanted to do something for the greater good – it’s so easy to see the strings between everything that’s happening. At least for me.”  
Alexis hums in understanding. “I wish I wasn’t here.”, she reveals, and it feels like a well-protected secret to him. He actually feels honored she decided to share it with him, even though he had suspected it earlier already. Then she adds: “I’m only here because of Bornar. He raised me, and I feel like I owe him. Besides-“, she frowns, “I wouldn’t be able to do anything else. I should be glad they have given me this opportunity.”

It sounds like she’s repeating something someone has told her before. He files it away as another riddle, not feeling confident enough to pry further into the subject. He’d destroy the comfortable atmosphere they have created between them.  
“Tell me something about your family.”, she suddenly says, and then adds, “Please?”  
Mycroft ponders for a moment, but as she already knew his real name and had searched him out, and trusted him with her real name, he decides it would be alright. “My Mother is a genius, like me. At least that’s what everyone else says. She seems so ordinary as our mother. My father has worked for the government for most of his life. I have a little brother.” _And a sister_, he thinks, mournful.  
“I think I understand a little better now. How much younger is your brother?”, she smiles.  
“Seven years, he is 18 right now and off to university. Studying chemistry.”  
“I could never.”, she laughs. They float in cozy silence again.  
He offers a little more of his thoughts, hoping it would make her trust him more, but also because it is the truth. “I worry about him.”, he says, “Constantly.” Alexis waits for him to continue. “He can’t cope very well. Sometimes he suffers under the information overload and I won’t be able to be there for him now.”

“Maybe he will ask for help when he suffers under this again.”  
“Maybe.”, Mycroft says, but disagrees silently.

Suddenly he swallows some water. “What-“  
But Alexis carries on to splash him with water. She’s laughing too, that beast. How childish, he thinks, but can’t help and grin and defend himself. This fighting is so much better than sparing on a mat while sweating.  
When he changes from splashing to kicking with his feet, Alexis laughs delighted, and dives to the bottom of the pool. He can see her lying down, as if she is born to live underwater.  
It’s also a little worrisome how long she can stay under water. Seriously, is that normal? She is sick… Fuck, does he have to drag her to the air, is she unconscious?   
But in that moment, she comes up for air again and he calms down. Alexis grins at him. “I scared you.”  
“You did not.”  
“I so did.”, she laughs and splashes him again.

They hear a door closing in the distance. Alexis sighs. “I guess that’s our cue.”  
They swim back to the ladder, and she climbs out first. He tries to follow, but she stands in front of the ladder, in his way and smirks at him.  
“You know, I just wanted to say…”, she put a hand on his chest and Mycroft feels his face heat up (Leave me alone, stupid body reactions!), and then she adds, “I’m glad you’re my partner in crime.” And then she pushes him back into the water.

While she’s laughing two people enter the pool. It’s the girl he saw before in the gym fighting with Alexis and another man a little older than her.  
“They send us to get you, Alexis.”, the girl said, moping.

“I’ve expected you sooner, to be honest.”, she shrugs. Then she turns to wave at Mycroft. “Off to trouble I go, then. See you, Antarctis.”

He notices how she tensed once her companions appeared and can’t help but wonder what kind of consequences exactly she is now facing.


	5. Truth comes out of her well to shame one scumbag specifically

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, my dear Sherlock fans! (Or better: Mycroft Fans!) Just wanted to say that I appreciate the kudos left by every single one of you. As you may have seen, I’ve changed the summary and added how many chapters there are to come. I’m not done writing yet, but I’ve written an outline – which is why the summary changed. I’ve had some new ideas and a symbolic that’s meant to rip your heart out. But oh well. That’s for you to read in the future.  
This chapter is a will be rather important in the story. (That’s probably why it turned out so long.) Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Content notice for description of rape of a minor and abuse. Please take precautions before reading.

A week later Mycroft and Alexis stand inside the office of Alexis’ mentor and boss, Gerry Bornar. Bornar has lectured them about discipline the last five minutes, but neither of them seems to listen.  
Mycroft is a little preoccupied. Alexis has deep, dark circles under her eyes – she isn’t sick anymore, as far as he can see – but she has spent the week clearly somewhere else. As a punishment for their little escapade in the pool.  
Mycroft can’t help but frown. A week of… what exactly as a punishment? What did one missed training (where Alexis was also sick) justify?

She hasn’t said a word yet, otherwise Mycroft would have been able to identify more clues as to what might have happened. She obviously hasn’t slept much, was probably closed off – his mind crosses to a prison, where inmates would be put in solitary for misdemeanors.

This seems a little extreme for this situation, though. He’d easily know if she had spent her time in isolation, however, when he could only hear her voice.

Alexis isn’t listening either. She is staring into space – no, she is staring at a point behind Bornar. She is present with her thoughts, she hears him; she just _chooses_ not to listen. There is nothing he could tell her that would be of any relevance to her right now.

“Still, your superiors have decided to give you both your first mission.”, Bornar sighs.  
_What a surprise_, Alexis thinks bitterly. _No one could’ve seen that coming_. It takes all of her willpower to not roll her eyes.  
The last week was awful. Alexis hasn’t felt that much hate in a long time – she is angry, and the presence of Bornar, who didn’t seem all that fazed about her absence this last week, didn’t make it any better. At the same time, Mycroft is analyzing her thoroughly, and up until now she didn’t even notice how he thought about people; he thought about their actions as if they’re not people at all. Even worse, he thought like that about her, too.

“What kind of mission?”, Mycroft finally asks, because Alexis couldn’t care less. His gaze lingers on her for a moment longer, before returning his attention to Bornar.

“A simple one, really.”, Bornar says and holds two files for each of them out, “Your target is a german intelligence agent named Dennis Frost. He works on a hidden base of the BND.” Mycroft takes a file, but Alexis doesn’t move. Her gaze is anchored behind Bornar, with a scowl on her face. Bornar still holds the file out and furrows his brows, Mycroft can see he’s getting agitated. So, he takes Alexis’ file too without a word.  
Bornar sighs and continues, “He is visiting London right now, and you, _Medea_, will get into contact with him.”

It’s just another push at Alexis and Mycroft, really. Bornar has found out that they know their real names and is also pretty mad about it. Alexis would suspect that that’s why she wasn’t allowed to go with her friends last week, if it wasn’t for the fact that she had been denied every time she asked in the last years.  
There’s a moment of silence. That’s when Bornar has enough. He slaps his hand unto his table. “This is not the time for your childish behavior, Alexis! Do you really want to make your situation worse?”  
Alexis gaze finally moves unto Bornar, but it remains cold and she otherwise unresponsive.  
Bornar is visibly angry. “You know, I in your place would be more grateful for your special position here. Or do you not remember _before_?”  
“Are you threatening me?”, she asks finally, and her voice is raspy from not using it for quite some time.  
“That’s completely up to you.”, Bornar grinds his teeth.

“I just thought the agency would prefer someone _without_ a brain of their own. You all seem to want a puppet, not humans.”, Alexis spits. “Or so you made quite clear.”  
“Is this still about your little birthday party?”, Bornar inquires, “You couldn’t go, didn’t listen to direct orders and are mad about the consequences? Bohoo, Alexis.” He stands up and leans on his table, closer to Alexis, who doesn’t move a muscle. “I believe I haven’t told you in a while. Maybe it’s time again. _Grow. Up_.”

“Careful, _Gerry_.”, Alexis finally says, calmer than she looks, “You don’t want to get a nasty headache, do you?”  
“Are you threatening _me_?”, Bornars hands on the desk grip the table tighter, as to get a grip on himself.  
“That’s completely up to you.”, Alexis mirrors her mentor, a small smile on her lips. It isn’t a happy smile.

Mycroft has watched the scene unfold, but he really should make a move now. The tension in the room only seemed to worsen, and he couldn’t see one outcome where it didn’t end with Alexis either fired, punished, or in a brawl with Bornar.  
He wants to keep Alexis as a partner, he decides, and takes a step forward. “What’s the goal?”

“What?”, Bornar snaps at him, breaking the eye contact with Alexis. _Good_, Mycroft thinks. _It’s quite simple to get people to do what you want._  
“What is our goal?”, he repeats himself, even though he hates repeating himself, “We make contact with Frost. Then what? Do you want information from him? Should we get the location of the base from him? Should we plant a tracking device on him? _What_?”

Bornar huffs, and falls back into his seat. “We don’t want to raise any suspicion, in any way. It will be just one little coffee date with a local girl. You will not ask for any information. You will not try to track him.”  
“Then what’s the point?”, Mycroft frowns.  
“We just…”, Bornar begins and looks at Alexis meaningful, “…want to get a feeling of him. And his behavior.”

_Sure, that sounds logical_, Mycroft snorts. “I see.”

“The suits are still pretty pissed, by the way.”, Bornar sighs, “They’ll want a final rehearsal before they send you out. You better give it your best, _Alexis_.”

Alexis leaves the office without another word. Mycroft hesitates for a second, pondering on whether there will be a chance Bornar will tell him more or if he will just get angry at him, too. Oh well, he probably has a better shot asking Alexis, especially because he is sure he gained some of her trust last time.  
So, he gives Bornar a nod, and strides after Alexis, his long legs catching up with her fairly easy. She hasn’t stormed off, but she’s still walking pretty fast, not even acknowledging him. “Are you angry with me?”, Mycroft frowns.

Alexis glances at him, huffing, and continues to walk, albeit a little bit slower. “No.”  
_Oh, she is a good liar_, he thinks_, but her voice wavers too much. When she isn’t angry you can probably almost don’t tell if she is lying or not. Or normal people can’t_.

There are still so many mysteries to her, and he needs to get her to trust him more, so she will open up to him more. That way he would be able to understand her, and to predict her reactions better – with that method he kept track of all the people he has ever met and ever deemed important.  
“I think you fit in here just fine. It really shouldn’t be a surprise.”  
Mycroft raises his brow. She did just say the agency prefers puppets without a brain over humans. Is she calling him brainless?  
“You like to play chess, don’t you?”, Alexis mumbles, aware of his thoughts. “Everyone is just a pawn in their game. In your game.” She stops and stares at him, with… _feelings_ in her eyes. “I refuse to be a chess figure.”

And with that she made her exit, leaving Mycroft even more confused than before. He could see from the trembling in her hand, that she was very emotional right now. Obviously. Somehow, he had thought she would be different, because she kept surprising him, but after all Alexis seemed to be an ordinary girl with unnecessary emotions, that make her life more difficult than it had to be. Maybe he had been wrong.  
It didn’t explain how she always seemed to know everything about everyone. She could always predict immediate movements and reactions, but she lacked the sight for the long game. And now she is angry with him.

Mycroft sighs. It’s so much easier when you can just see through everyone.

Later that day Alexis and Mycroft find themselves in their usual roles: Mycroft hacking at the keyboard of his computer, behind three desktops and Alexis in tactical clothing on the training compound. She had some places in mind she would rather be right now, but oh well.

This was the final rehearsal before they were allowed to officially take on missions as a team. As partners. And while she has thought before that Mycroft would be better than her previous analyst (Well, he _did_ try to sell her out for money, so that was that), but the thought of Mycroft still left a bitter taste in her mouth.  
Alexis wants nothing more than some freedom. A life, maybe. She likes the thrill of missions, and sneaking around, and even fighting, but the price for this life is more than high. Bornar even mentioned her life from _before_. In the minds of the agency they rescued her and gave her the freedom she deserved, which is true in a certain way, but it often feels like she traded one horror for the other.

She isn’t allowed to leave the base without permission. Permission, which she never gets. Sometimes, they let it slide, when she goes out regardless. They haven’t even brought up the time when she went out to meet Mycroft for the first time. On the other hand, maybe that’s why they were so angry with her after such minor misconducts.  
Either way they shouldn’t be allowed to treat her like that. But at least now it’s clear to her that they think she is property of the agency. She would be more careful in the future around them. The base hasn’t felt like home in a long time.

She could feel the presences of the other agents in the compound, hidden somewhere in the structures of fake buildings. But that’s about it – she isn’t able to hear anything, anything at all. Her brows rise higher at that, and suddenly she understands.  
“This is a test.”, she mumbles into her earpiece, so Mycroft would hear.  
“You said so before.”  
“Yes,”, she answers, “But I mean an even bigger test. This is not for the simple mission they told us about.” She can practically hear his brain working from here.  
“These are the people you trained with last week.”, he notices.  
“That’s right. This will be a lot harder than our trainings before, Mycroft.”, Alexis says.  
“You don’t seem very worried, though.”, Mycroft remarks.  
“Yes. I mean no.”, she says and then sighs, “I basically grew up with them. They know me, they know every move I might make, and I can’t read them like everyone else.” She can hear the _But?_, without him even saying it. “But I’m confident you will be happy about that. At least now you get to tell me exactly what to do.” Is she imaging things now, or can she hear a faint chuckle?  
“Wow, and it has only taken two months.”, Mycroft notes.  
“Well, maybe I do trust you more now.” Alexis admits, “Don’t fuck it up.”  
“Of course I won’t. I never do.”

Instead of answering Alexis rolls her eyes at that arrogant confidence and mouths _I never do_ mockingly. He probably saw it, but he doesn’t comment on it, so the next minutes are spent in silence.  
Finally, the speakers crackle. “You have one minute left. Instead of bullets we use a narcotic drug this time, so a hit doesn’t mean the session is over. Good luck.”

“They don’t think you will be able to sneak past everyone.”, Mycroft clarifies for her. “They have calculated at least two people will see you.”  
“How do you know?”, she asks, but she knows that’s a pretty dumb question for Mycroft and hurries to add, “Why two people?”  
“They trust your abilities, of course, they think that something will go wrong. In which case the person will be at least surprised, and probably close enough for close combat, rather than shooting. But it won’t go unnoticed by everyone – they are walking in pairs.”  
“So if I manage to take one down it’s still likely the partner will get a shot in.”  
“Exactly.”, she hears him typing, “Okay, there are eleven pairs patrolling right now, so twenty two people. No sniper.”

The sound playing from the speakers indicates that the training session has now started. Alexis doesn’t move yet. She waits for the cue from Mycroft.  
Alexis isn’t kidding when she says that she isn’t able to read these people like everyone else. When she came into the agency a group formed – a group of people that she was allowed to practice her ability on. She used them and looked into their heads, searched for their hopes and dreams, and their worst fears. As a practice she was to extract information someone has told the person before and Alexis was always successful. She even managed to learn how to manipulate their thoughts – and to basically order them around. When your mind tells your body to sit down, you can’t exactly refuse your own thoughts.  
That is, until the group anticipated her intrusion into their head. They learned how to build up walls she could barely get through. They build up a resistance for her attacks.

The superiors were impressed. The group of people was called the _Argonauts, _because she was the _Medea_ travelling with them. They didn’t have a _Jason_, though. From then on, the _Argonauts_ were her responsibility, and she was theirs. She’d train them and with them.  
Funny though, that the _Argonauts_ were used against her so often. She wasn’t so stupid to believe that her superiors trusted her completely. No one would be able to take her down if she decided that she wanted to go rogue. It was their safety deposit, and while most of the group were Alexis best friends, she also knew that they are the greatest danger to her.  
She hasn’t really been trying these last training sessions, though. As she continues to grow older, her abilities got even stronger, and she is sure to be ahead of their resistance once more. She might not hear their everyday thoughts, but she is sure she would still be able to get into their heads. It might take some force and energy, but Alexis would be able to command them.

“Let’s make a bet.”, she grins now.  
“I’m listening.”  
“I bet we manage to not get me shot even once.”  
“The probability of that is very low.”  
“So you’re betting against me?”, Alexis chuckles.  
Mycroft is probably running the chances in his head, because he is quiet for a second, before saying “We’re are a team, it’d be stupid to bet against you. Everyone else is already betting against us.”  
“Then let’s show what we’re able to do.”  
“Got it.”

Alexis finally starts to approach the buildings, while Mycroft describes the location of the teams, and the route which she should take. She is already past two patrols before Mycroft finishes talking about the possible dangers.  
“Now it will get trickier.”  
But he leads her past one more pair, while skirting around another two patrols. He’s focused, and rambling all the time, and luckily, she is used to gather and process information that quickly, or they would have more problems.

“Almost too easy.”, she smirks.  
Mycroft sounds content, too. “You’re doing well. But now we can’t just avoid them, we will have to sneak past the others.”  
“Understood.”

Mycroft guides her close to the next two teams of agents, and tells her how they patrol the surroundings. “You have a window of maybe 20 seconds when no one looks in your direction, in three, two, one…”  
And right on time she tears out of the bush she’d been hiding in (ah, the memories) and hurries as fast as she can through an alley right in front of her. She presses against the wall when she hears voices relatively close.  
“Mycroft.”, she whispers.  
“Yes, we’re almost there. The flag is behind the next building, there are five possible ways to get there, and the last 8 agents patrol between them. Give me a moment.”  
Alexis knows he only needs to see the routine one time to already calculate the best way for her to get through. So, she just waits, pressed against the wall and tries to catch her breath.  
Her heartbeat resonates in her ears, but it isn’t fear, no, it’s excitement. It’s a challenge, especially because she doesn’t really care what their superiors think. They are only suits, anyway. Most of them have never worked on the field a day in their life.  
No, this is just a game, and Alexis loves to win. As does Mycroft, or so she gathers. Especially when no one expects it, she wants to prove them wrong by making it without getting hit one time. The thrill of it all makes her heart pound even louder.

“Alright, it will be very difficult, but not impossible.”, Mycroft explains matter-of-factly, “You will have to sprint to the building and get inside of it. There’s a broken window on the left side. Can you see it?”  
Alexis takes a last deep breath and peeks out of the alley. There, the second to left. “How much time do I have?”  
“Not more than twelve seconds.”  
She’d roll her eyes because of his exact prediction, but she is actually pretty glad for them. In a serious situation she must be able to trust his words. It’s easier when he makes himself clear.  
“Inside, I will lead you through the hallways. You’ll have to be quiet or they’ll hear you.”  
“Ok. Tell me when it’s time.”

Alexis gets ready to sprint, as she hears the voices getting closer again. There’s no time to think about what would happen if Mycroft made a mistake. It would also be pointless. _I don’t make mistakes_, she can almost hear perfectly sharp in her ear.  
“Get ready.”  
One last breath, and she tenses, awaiting the signal. She’d have no more than ten seconds to run to the building in front of her, leaving her two seconds to swing herself inside of it. It will be a close call.  
“Now.”

Her feet dash on the ground, and she wills herself to go faster. She counts the seconds in her head and she is sure that Mycroft holds his breath right now. Five, six. She’s halfway across the space in front of the building. Seven, eight. Almost there. Nine, ten. She has reached the building. The window is broken, but there are still some sharp fragments in it. She squats momentarily and flings herself through the window in the next second, twisting her body, so she doesn’t cut herself. She lands on her feet, but uses the momentum to roll forwards. Makes a bit more noise, but doesn’t hurt your knees as much.  
_Twelve_, she smirks, breathless.  
“Good, but we don’t have time for a break.”

Mycroft guides her again, and it’s almost fun to not know where the last of the _Argonauts_ are. Alexis finds that it’s quite nice to trust her partner like that. Being able to rely on them and not having to worry because they don’t know what to expect.

Suddenly she hears him slam unto his keyboard again. “These – they’re trying to kick me out of their cameras-”  
A second later an awful noise rips to her eardrum. Alexis almost screams because of the sudden pain, but she rips the earpiece off instead. She stares at it – the noise is still audible – of course that had to happen now, what else! Right when she thought how easy this was and how good Mycroft!

Alexis knows she is close. She doesn’t know how long it will take for Mycroft to get access back, but it might take too long. There are patrols close, she can feel them. Time to move, with or without Mycroft.  
The desire to make it through this without getting shot once grows even bigger.

So, Alexis moves cautiously through the hallways, on her own. She sneaks past the agents as good as she can, checking the earpiece from time to time for a sign of Mycroft.  
She reaches the other side of the building, finally. Through a window she sees the flag, and also a team walking over the courtyard. First things first. She watches the agents go into the building and counts the seconds until another pair of agents comes out. Twenty seconds. She waits until the first team she saw is back and this time she watches the windows of the other building, as far as she can see. There seems to be no one else watching in that twenty seconds.  
Of course she can’t be sure that no one will be watching from her side of the building, as she can’t exactly look into the other windows, but it’s good enough for her.

The second step is to find a way into the courtyard without anyone finding her. She checks the earpiece again. The noise has stopped, so she puts it back in her ear again. “Mycroft?”, she asks, but still gets no answer. Great.

Alexis creeps closer to where she thinks the door might be, until she suddenly comes face to face with Robby. Too stunned to react for just a quarter of a second they stare at each other, until they finally move. He tries to raise his gun, but Alexis kicks it out of his hands. The noise echoes in her ears. _Goddammit_.  
She had to take him down quick, or there would be no chance of her making it.  
“Alexis, I’m back. Will have visuals in a second.” Mycroft. Finally.  
Instead of an answer she ducks under a punch from Robby and in a swift decision she rams her head right between his ribs. Robby lets out a blast of air. Alexis wraps her hands around his middle, positions her leg behind his and then pushes forward. Robby falls, and not a second later, she punches him, knocking him out cold.

“Partner on the way, use the door on your right!”  
As she opens it, a _thud_ gains her attention for a second. The dart with the narcotic has hit the door. _Too close_. “Move!”, Mycroft commands.  
She hides in the shadow of a closet behind the door. It would be safer to take Robby’s partner down, too, or everyone else would be alerted shortly. The door opens and Anthea comes in. _Great, that won’t be easy_. Alexis aims a punch against Anthea’s head, but she jerks out of the way in the last second. Instead, Alexis uses the momentum to grab the gun in Anthea’s hand and twist it out of her grip.  
The gun falls to the ground, but meanwhile Anthea aims a punch to her throat. If she had succeeded and scored the punch, it would have been over. Alexis tries to duck (better her face than her throat), but her eyes water once the fist connects with her nose. She barely sees the next punch coming, so she protects her head with crossed arms. _Only a bruise, not important_.  
Alexis lifts her leg and kicks Anthea in the stomach, pushing her back. She blinks and is finally able to see clearly again. She catches the next punch and twists Anthea’s arm, but Anthea moves with her in practiced expertise.  
“The next team is on it’s way, you need to end this, quick.”  
An idea forming in Alexis head, she brings her foot to the back of Anthea and kicks, so that Anthea stumbles away from her, trying to regain her balance.  
Alexis spurts out of the open door and reaches for the dart in the door. When Anthea moves to follow her, she spins around and drives the dart into her neck. Anthea cries out, and only stands still for another second, before falling to her knees.  
“That’s playing dirty,”, Anthea gasps, “You wouldn’t have been able to do that with a bullet.”  
“You know I’m dirty.”, Alexis jokes, out of breath, “Sorry, Anthea. Did the first thing that came to my mind. Rest.”  
“Can’t move anyway.”, she mumbles and closes her eyes, before finally laying down.

Alexis scratches the back of her head, then touches her nose. It’s bleeding, but it isn’t broken, as far as she can feel. She wipes the blood away.  
“So, care to explain where you went, Mycroft?”  
“They kicked me out of their system.”, he mumbles, and it sounds a bit embarrassed. “And with they I mean multiple people. Wasn’t easy to get the access back.”  
“Fine. Tell me how to get the damn flag.”

Once again, he leads her, until she can finally see the door.  
“Alexis.”, Mycroft alarms her. “The other patrol just found the people you knocked out. One of them is running towards you, the other is watching the flag from the window.” Short pause. “As the other patrol is also on its way, I don’t see any other chance for you as to retreat. You will have to fight your way through, but I don’t think that you will be able to endure a few fights more.”  
“So what, you want me to give up?”, she asks offended.  
“You can try to reach the flag, but then you would lose your bet.”  
“Our bet.”, she mumbles, thinking.  
“I don’t want to alarm you, but the partner is almost there.”

She looks to the door for a second. “Fuck it.” Alexis takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. She feels for the presences – one coming to her, and the other above her.  
“Alexis!”, Mycroft calls to her.  
“Shut up and trust me for a sec.”, she says frustrated. “I will explain later.”

Firstly, she knocks the wall from the one in front of the windows down and gets into his mind. It’s Tim, she sees, as she strives a memory about him scratching his knees as a kid. She feels for his thoughts, and can hear them whisper in her mind. It’s exhausting to establish herself in it, because he had his defenses up all the way, but she finally thinks _Empty your gun. Lie down_.  
“Alexis!”, Mycroft warns.  
She whips around and sees Laura in front of her, aiming her gun at her. “_Stop_!”, she orders hectically. It’s always more intense to say the order out loud, and Laura’s eyes cloud over. Alexis doesn’t take the time to find a way in and establish herself, but forces herself into Laura’s thoughts. It takes up a lot more of her energy that way, but she doesn’t have the time. Soon there would be another pair of agents on their way. _Empty your gun. Lie down_, Alexis thinks again. Laura follows automatically.

Her nose has begun to bleed again, this time for different reasons. It always takes a toll on her, when she does this with one of the _Argonauts_. But it’s worth it.

“What…?”, Mycroft wonders, but Alexis just grins, blood running down her face.  
She strolls outside and grips the flag tight in her hand. Thank god, she thinks and feels faint.  
“I gotta sit down.”, she says, once the signal blares that the training is over.

She hears the rustling of people coming her way as she closes her eyes. She is about to be confronted with normal people again and that means with their thoughts. Being with the _Argonauts_ is always so quiet, that it hits her even more when she is afterwards bombarded with input.

“I think you really owe me an explanation, Alexis.”  
“Get in line.”

  
They didn’t actually get the chance to talk, afterwards.  
They met in Bornars office again, this time in a better mood – or at least Bornar was in a better mood. He congratulated them for the win, said the suits (their superiors, Mycroft suspects that no one here actually cares what they think) were more than happy with the result, and they were officially ready to take on missions now.

Then, he asked Alexis to stay in the room and Mycroft was dismissed. He had thought about waiting for Alexis, but he didn’t want her to think he had tried to eavesdrop. There was no reason to hurry her explanation; even though the sensation of not-knowing burned between his ribs, he knew that there was no way anything remained hidden from him. He always knew everything in the end.  
Some riddles just took up more of his time than others.

Alexis appeared to be a riddle that he wouldn’t be able to solve all too soon – on the other hand, he thought the explanation would probably give him the last piece of the puzzle he missed right here and now.

Their first mission was set to the next day immediately – the vacation of the german agent wouldn’t last forever, and they didn’t want to risk doing this right before he went back to Germany, in case anything went wrong. Although there wasn’t really a possibility there even _could_ go anything wrong. They didn’t have an objective. Alexis was supposed to chat with him a little, nothing more, nothing less. Hardly anything worth their time, really. And completely illogical. Mycroft couldn’t think of any outcome that would give them an advantage in the future; but it is possible that the agent sees right through Alexis, or even remembers her face afterwards. And if Mycroft couldn’t think of an advantage, there usually wasn’t one. _Unless_ he didn’t know all the facts.

This thought almost made him turn around and wait for Alexis, but he remained certain that it wasn’t a time-sensitive subject. He was just curious.

A day later, Alexis and Mycroft had met at the base, getting ready for their task. Mycroft has already hacked into the CCTV-Cameras and located one Dennis Frost. Alexis is on her way to the area – she is waiting at a point in town he had calculated to be the most logical for Frost to head to, now they only had to wait which restaurant or café he would select for lunch.  
Mycroft is glad Alexis at least doesn’t question his orders anymore. _People_ can’t understand his train of thought, which can be a problem for them, especially for their fragile egos, but Alexis seems slightly less _slow_. And less fragile, for that matter.

“Do you know what Frost means?”, Alexis asks through her earpiece, and Mycroft frowns at the desktop where her image is displayed. She’s standing on the sidewalk of a busy street, with her phone out, in a light sundress, so she wouldn’t seem like she was talking to herself. With the other hand she is expertly solving a rubiks cube.  
“Frost means the same in English as it does in German.”, he refrains from rolling his eyes, but as he sees her grin, he continues, “Cold. Freezing.”  
“Like in the _Antarctica_.”, she adds in the same tone of voice.

Mycroft can’t help but sigh. “You still haven’t let this go, I see.”  
“How could I?”, Alexis grins, and Mycroft watches her for a moment before focusing on Frost again. “That you chose this name for yourself probably says something about your perception of yourself. What, you feel like you’re on an island far away from everybody and freezing to death?” Alexis laughs, “Or do you want to be the cold-blooded analyst, who has a heart of stone, the self-control of a god and no emotions?”  
“You read too much fiction, Alexis.”  
“Oh, did I hit too close to home?”, she’s still grinning, “Mycroft Holmes, the man without emotions. Watch out or he will throw a snowball.”

“Caring is not an advantage. Emotions hold no value for me.”, he admits softly. He hears her hum. “As for the island-part”, he says with a pause, “Well, my brain works faster than average. It’s always in order, everything makes sense and has connections – you can’t say that for you _ordinary_ people.”  
“So what, ordinary people like _me_ are too stupid for you?”  
“Imagine.”, he tries to explain, as he doesn’t want to offend her, “Imagine we’re in an aquarium. While there are fish that use their short life to swim from one side to the other and forget in the matter of seconds that they’ve been there before, I always remember and I can also see the bigger picture. The world outside of the aquarium. Actions and their consequences. Imagine trying to talk to fishes that are stuck in this tiny space forever, and are happy with that.”  
“So basically, you agree with me.”  
“Basically”, he agrees, a smile tucking at his lips. “It’s tiresome.”  
“Comparing me to a goldfish.”, he hears her mumble under her breath, “You’re in for a surprise, Mr. Holmes.”

“Alright, enough with the small-talk. Frost has finally decided where to dine.” A hint of dislike in his voice, Mycroft tells her the address and leads her to a café, ten minutes from his calculated spot. “Time to move.”

Alexis stops a corner from the café, to work out the rules for the task at hand. Mycroft is faster.  
“You’ll need to make him notice you, the safest way is that he chooses to have a coffee with you. If you sit with him and start to show interest, he might get suspicious. He doesn’t have a partner in Germany, as far as we know.”  
“No problem.”, Alexis smiles. The phone in her hand feels out of place – she doesn’t actually own a phone, because the agency didn’t allow her to have one. (Something about it being too dangerous for her to have contact to the rest of the world. Or something like that.) She then says, “Keep me updated if you notice anything wrong. Otherwise, don’t tell me what to say.” Alexis can hear Mycroft draw a breath, but she cuts him off before he can say anything, “Thanks!”

Alexis takes a deep breath, and concentrates on the people in the café. A flood of thoughts and emotions hits her, it takes all of her control to shake it off and to break it apart into individual minds. She brushes the minds of the students off, that are desperate to solve a difficult math equation, ignores the family of tourists, where the parents want nothing more to go home and rest their feet, while their daughter is a ball of pure energy. Some workers are having their lunchbreak in the corner.  
There are two separate dudes. It would take a lot more time to determine who their target is, as she would have to dive into their memories, so she just sends an urge to look at the entrance of the café to both of them.  
_Time to play_, she thinks, and enters the café.

She doesn’t look around when she gets inside, only once she has her coffee and searches for a seat. There are enough free tables, so Alexis takes the one where she sits in the middle of the place, with the wall in her back. She has free sight to the entrance, and in the corner of her eyes she is able to see both of the men who might be their subject.  
As if she is just gazing around, her eyes meet their target – she recognizes him from the file, and she looks away fast, smiling to herself. Alexis even makes her ears go warm, a slight blush creeping on her cheeks. _God_, she thinks, _this is almost too easy_.  
She concentrates on her rubiks cube, acting as if she were stuck and didn’t know the next move. The coffee needs to cool down anyway. _She’s cute_, he thinks, and Alexis grins inwardly.

Frost shuffles, and for a moment she thinks he’s coming over already, but it seems like it’s not _that_ easy. So she puts on another show; she sighs and puts the cube down, flashing her gaze to Frost and immediately looking away when he’s still watching her, (she makes her cheeks grow even warmer) and she takes out her phone as if to google how to solve it. The smirk she has seen on Frosts lips tells a story about how this will go. Clearly, he is looking for some fun on his vacation.

_That’s my chance_. Frost stands up, takes his coffee and walks over to her. She glances up from her phone, acting shy.  
“Hey”, he smiles at her and points at the cube, “Do you need some help with that?”  
“Hi.”, she smiles back and shrugs, “Sure, have a go. I can’t remember the moves how to solve it past the second lair for the life of me.” Alexis makes sure to blow some air out, but smile nevertheless.  
“Don’t worry, you just have to do it enough times. It’s fairly easy once you have done it a couple of times.” Frost reaches for the cube, but offers his hand to her after a second thought. (She can hear his thoughts and would laugh if it wouldn’t compromise her mission. _Thank god that Emily annoyed me with her rubiks cube for ages. Will have to thank her later. Maybe I’ll have some fun on this job yet. God, did I wash my hands before?) _“I’m Dan.”  
“Alex.”, she takes his hand. Mentally she makes a note that he’s actually not on vacation, but here for a job. Possibly why he didn’t tell her his real name. Although Bornar and the other probably knew and just didn’t tell her. “Nice to meet you.”  
“The joy is all mine.”

“He’s been looking for a fling since he arrived here, it seems.”, Mycroft almost makes her jump, but she calms down enough to scold him mentally, “Got rejected at least three times this week. There’s probably a reason for that.”  
_Shut up_.  
Frost takes the Cube and sits down next to her. Alexis takes a sip from her coffee and watches him carefully. The perfect time to snoop in his mind, while he’s focused on something else. She feels his mind and makes sure to remember the aura of it all – the way his thoughts are conjured is ordinary in the least. She can see him arriving with merely a backpack and waving for a cab, she can see him in a suit and in something that reminds her of the base of the agency, and she can see the ocean, before he puts the cube down in front of her, solved. She notes that he took a pretty long route instead of a shortcut and scoffs internally.  
Outwards she grins like a madwoman and takes the cube in played surprise. “Wow, that was fast.” Noting the way, he looks at her she takes it up a notch. “My hero.”

Frost grins and leans back into his chair, indicating that he feels safe. In control. Oh, how wrong he is.  
Alexis is careful to not be the one who starts the topics, instead letting Frost lead the conversation. The small talk is boring her to death, but it’s all just means to an end. She could walk outside right now and the mission would be over. Alexis already has what she wanted.  
The thoughts of the other people just wash over her, that is until one makes the ends of her hair stand up. _Look how she throws herself at him. I bet he can’t make her scream like I would_.  
Alexis glances in the direction of the cruel mind she overheard. The other dude that had watched her coming inside. Upon making eye contact with him she sees images she’d rather forget.

They’re… his _fantasies_. Her own face had starred back at her, screaming in pain, struggling underneath him. Goosebumps are on her skin.  
“Alexis.”, Mycroft observed her tensing up.  
She calms down and deadly rage wells inside her. This situation would never happen like he fantasized – Alexis is trained, and she’d crush his skull if he’d even try to touch her. _A rapist_, she thinks, and swallows down her anger.  
Luckily Frost is still talking about the Baltic sea in Germany (probably where the base is located, in hindsight) and hasn’t noticed her change in demeanor.

With a smile, she excuses herself to the bathroom.  
As soon as the door closes, she grips the sink and breathes deeply. She needs to know.  
“What happened?”, Mycroft asks quietly.  
Alexis doesn’t answer but searches for this disgusting mind again. She can feel his thoughts buzzing, barely contained. She bets he has done it before. But she needs to be sure. She dives into the memories, and sees images that burn themselves into her brain. _His kid. His fucking kid_.  
She clenches her teeth, trying to contain this deadly feeling inside. She wants to punch someone. Not someone. She knows who she wants to punch.

“I will go out there”, Alexis finally breathes, “and I will end this mission. I will bid Frost goodbye, and then you will cut off the contact to me.”  
Silence in her ear. “Why?”, he simply asks.  
“Because.” Alexis doesn’t feel like explaining herself. It might make her loose the tiny bit of control she still has.  
“I am supposed to stay in contact with you until you arrive back at the base.”  
“Do what you want, then.”, she growls, “But then live with the consequences.”

Alexis leaves him no time to respond and pushes the door open again, forcing the smile back unto her face. She sits back down, finishing the last of her coffee, while Frost picked the last conversation back up again. She’s still smiling at him, though it’s hard to act as shy as before. To Frost is shy and quietly seething in anger probably the same. Even better for her.  
“Alright,”, she smiles at him, “I need to meet my friends for our shopping tour soon. I’ll have to get going.”  
“Ah, what a shame.”, Frost grins, “Is there any chance I might see you again? Maybe for a dinner, then?”  
“Sure!”, she hastens to cheer. “Um, how about we exchange numbers?” She hands him her phone, and with a wink he adds his contact to it. He hands her the phone back when she gets up. Alexis smile almost freezes when she reads under what name he put himself in. _The handsome Dan from the café. _Wow. Just… wow. No wonder he couldn’t get laid.  
Instead, she blushes and calls his number. His phone rings. “Now you’ve got me.”, she winks, and she notes the glint in his eyes at her innuendo.

She waves and leaves the café, not without throwing a provocative look to the scumbag, that she is sure he won’t be able to resist. Frost sits at the table, grinning to himself, not even looking after her. Out of sight, she guesses.  
Alexis walks a few meters, right before the alleyway next to the café and waits. There. Like she expected him to, the scumbag had followed her outside. Acting like she hasn’t seen him, she walks right into the dark alley, counting on him following her.

“Last chance, Mycroft”, she says softly, “This will not be pretty.”  
“I’m not leaving you alone.”

And then scumbag is in front of Alexis, grinning at her, as if he had caught her all on his own. He looks… proud. _Disgusting excuse of a human being_.  
His thoughts still scream to her, and it crawls on her skin.  
“I’m sorry, buddy.”, she says and grabs him by his collar and slams him into the wall, “You were at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Alexis knees him into his crotch and he crumbles unto the floor, whimpering in pain. “You’ll wish you had never met me.”

She punches him in her rage in what feels like forever. Her fist hurts, and she is sure, the poor excuse of a man isn’t the only one who’s bleeding. Whatever.  
Alexis grabs him at the collar again. “You still with me, dude?” There’s venom in her voice. Her white dress has red stains on it. Her fist is bleeding. And Alexis has a burning fire of rage inside her.  
“You listen to me very closely.”, she whispers into his ear. “You will turn yourself in. You will confess to everything. You will confess about your daughter.”  
The whine gets stuck in his throat. _How the hell does this bitch know?_, he thinks, and other charming things like _Whore!_

“If you don’t, I will find you. And you won’t be able to even look at another human being ever again.” She puts a hand on his throat. “Do you understand?”  
He looks at her, with disgust in his eyes, but he’s also in pain, and clearly afraid. He nods. She squeezes. Finally, he says, “Yes! Fuck!”  
“Pathetic.”, she spits and leaves him in the alley.

When she comes out of the alley, there’s a car waiting for her. Probably for the better, as she wouldn’t be very subtle in her bloody sundress.  
“Still with me?”, Alexis asks tiredly.  
“Yes.”  
“That’s your own fault.”

She opens the door on the driver’s side and gestures for the driver to get out. “Thanks for the ride. I’m driving.”  
He doesn’t dare to object.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7,6k words! (Oh wow, haven't written that much in a long time.) In the next chapter Alexis' explanation finally follows. 
> 
> What do you think? I'd love a comment, if you have the time <3


End file.
